411 Talks w/Hector Barron About His New Film Cholos vs. Vampires

Hector Barron is a director/producer working in the world of indie film and is responsible for the movies Lloyd, which came out in 2001, and Josh is Dying. Barron is currently working on obtaining funding for a potential horror movie called Cholos vs. Vampires. In the interview below, Barron explains what Cholos vs. Vampires is, what he and filmmaking partner Scott Hahn hope to achieve with the project, and more.

Bryan Kristopowitz: What is Cholos vs. Vampires?HB:We hope Cholos vs Vampires will be a feature film. It’s about a hive of vampires that invade a neighborhood in East LA. I thought it would be interesting to have two different types of gangs fighting each other.

BK:When did you know that you wanted to make a horror movie? And when did you know that it was going to be Cholos vs. Vampires?HB: I came up with this idea about two years ago. I was living in Austin at the time and I was visiting San Antonio. I was in a part of town where there was a gang member sitting on a bike. I walked past him and realized we were near a cemetery. The sun was going down and it felt like something was about to go down. I thought what if this guy was fighting some kind of monster in the neighborhood. That’s how Cholos vs Vampires came about.

BK:What kind of vampire can we expect to see in this movie? Will we see suave and sophisticated vampires, full on monsters, or a mixture of both?HB: The vampires will be smart creatures. We hope to have several different kinds of creature within the same family. They will each have their own roles and duties to perform within the hive.

BK:When did you decide to commence with a Kickstarter funding operation for this project?

HB: Scott Hahn (filmmaking partner) and I started working on the Kickstarter about a year ago. We started filming short videos. It was our plan to launch the greatest Kickstarter campaign ever made. We believe we got close to that. I guess you have to see all the effort we put into it to make that decision. I’m half joking but we did spend a lot of time and effort. Probably for naught at this point.

BK: Why do you think there was so much hesitation from studios regarding a horror movie starring/featuring a predominately Latino cast? Did anyone ever give an explanation?HB: I met with a producer and he basically said that we needed stars and there aren’t that many Latino stars that will cut it. Look, indie films are getting harder and harder to make. There’s not a lot of money out there for indie films. It’s always been a struggle to make films but it seems that it’s difficult to find a decent budget today.

BK:Your Kickstarter commercials are hilarious. How did you get Corey Feldman to participate? Will he/could he have a part in the eventual movie?

HB:Thanks. We had a lot of fun making it. We approached his manager with the idea and Corey loved it. It took a couple of hours one afternoon. It was so cool to work with Corey since Scott and I grew up watching his movies. We didn’t plan on having Corey in the movie but our Facebook fans seem to want an appearance. If we find the money to make this movie, we would love to have him make a cameo. What a cool person Corey is to have agreed to help us out.

BK:What are some of your influences on this project? Who are your moviemaking heroes (writers/actors/directors)?

HB:Scott and I love old school monster movies. You know, “man-in-suit” films that aren’t really made anymore. Alien, Predator, Pumpkinhead, American Werewolf in London – these are the films with practical effects. There’s just something really cool about having the creature on the set, so the actors can work with something in front of them. There are so many directors that are heroes like John Landis, John Carpenter, Ridley Scott. We made a film a while ago and were lucky enough to get John Landis to do a cameo. Talk about being in shock working with a filmmaking hero.

BK:Do you plan on using practical special effects for Cholos vs. Vampires or is that all dependent on the budget?

HB:Yes, we want to work with practical effects. That’s really the main reason we wanted to make this film. We believe in practical effects. It’s an art that shouldn’t be lost.

BK:If for some reason the Kickstarter doesn’t work what are your next steps? Are there next steps after that?

HB:Great question. It’s not looking that great for us right now. We have three days left and so far away from our goal. We made some mistakes and will learn from them. I can’t say we would do the Kickstarter thing again. We’ll keep looking for an investor to make the film. Someone out there will see that this is a viable project. I think we should have secured a publicist before launching our project. We thought that making these viral videos would do it but I think it takes time for things to go viral. We’re always working on a project so if it’s not Cholos vs Vampires, it will be another project. If enough people contact us promising that they will pledge $50 if we launch again, we just might. You always have hope that things work out. It’s a lesson that I seem to keep learning… you can work really hard but that doesn’t mean you’ll get the results you want.

BK:And if the Kickstarter works and Cholos vs. Vampires gets made and it’s a huge hit (and why wouldn’t it be? It’s a great idea), will we see the Cholos take on other monsters? Cholos vs. Werewolves?HB:Yeah, we had three movies planned for Cholos vs Vampires. We weren’t going to go the werewolf route.

BK:How often do you dream about Zach Braff? Has he appeared in any other dreams/hallucinations?

HB:You really want to know?

I want to thank Hector for taking time out of his busy schedule to participate in this interview. Please check out the Cholos vs. Vampires website here and the Cholos vs. Vampires Kickstarter page here.